Vaccination News

A patch which delivers a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease through the skin has been shown to be safe and effective, a study has found.

University of South Florida researchers reported the patch was able to clear brain-damaging plaques from mice.

They say it may be a simpler way of protecting people against the disease than a conventional injected vaccine.

UK experts said the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study was "potentially very exciting".

Alzheimer's is linked with the build up of a protein called beta amyloid in the brain, where it clumps together to form damaging plaques.

A recently approved project of the sixth EU Framework Programme – MimoVax – is focussing on a new target for an Alzheimer's vaccine. The project, coordinated by the Austrian company Affiris GmbH, centres on the use of immune reactions to combat previously overlooked forms of the beta-amyloid that cause Alzheimer's disease. It is being run by seven partner organisations from three countries and has received an exceptionally positive response from Brussels – as well as Euro 2.4 million in financial support.

The signing of the contract yesterday signalled the start of the active
phase of the EU MimoVax project. The project is part of the sixth EU
Framework Programme and is seeking to develop an Alzheimer's vaccine that targets specific types of beta-amyloid, the causative agent of Alzheimer's disease. 

Singapore - Today reported on Novartis plans to conduct trials of its Alzheimer’s vaccine in the city state, among other sites. Reporting from what was billed as the Novartis Biotechnology Leadership Camp” here, the daily quoted officials saying a vaccine could be available in perhaps five to seven years. That will probably be too late for Singapore’s current 22,000 Alzheimer sufferers, but not for the 187,000 this tiny republic is projected to have in 45 years. Paul Herrling, the pharma’s head of corporate research, explained the object of the exercise this way: “What we try to do is use the immune system to clear the brain of one little piece of protein that seems to be killing the nerve cells.&rdquo